New Hero Glamour Carb: Test Ride Review

Snapshot: It packs a new chassis, new looks and more importantly a new engine which has been developed in-house at Hero's R&D center near Jaipur. So what do all these upgrades result into when it comes to real life riding experience? Let's find out!

Hero Glamour is one of the bikes which is present in the Indian market for a long time now, in fact, it’s more than a decade old. But times have changed and so is the taste of average Indian commuter. Over the years, it has established itself as one of the distinctive commuter motorcycles which side-by-side offers efficiency and style. The latest Glamour motorcycle packs a bunch of changes compared to its earlier version. It packs a new chassis, new looks and more importantly a new engine which has been developed in-house at Hero's R&D center near Jaipur. The engine is available in both carburetted as well as a fuel injected version.

Looks:

Glamour has always been a slightly better looking of the commuters we have in its segment. And maybe that’s is the reason for its popularity. And in its latest avatar, it only gets better. No, it doesn’t grow in size, it still has the proportions of an average commuter bike, but in terms of design it gets nicer fit and finishes, better looking sculpted tank, a large angular headlamp, with a bikini fairing, and of course new LED tail lamps.

At the front, the headlight looks neatly designed and that along with a sleek, dark shaded cowl sitting above it, in fact, looks great. The dual shade rear view mirrors and new graphics also add to the sporty appeal of the bike, while its muscular tank and LED tail light make the Glamour one attractive motorcycle to swing your legs on.

The meter console on the bike comes in semi-digital analog format, which looks modern and displays all the necessary information in a highly readable, uncluttered format. It displays current speed in an analog speedometer, while other information like current fuel level, odometer, and trip meter is digital. Well, that’s decent information as per daily commuter motorcycles are concerned but I really wish it also displayed time.

Engine and performance:

The bike packs a 124.7cc Air cooled, 4 - stroke single cylinder, OHC engine churning out near 11.4 bhp of maximum power at 7500 rpm 11 Nm at 6500 rpm. The engine comes mated to a 4 - speed constant mesh transmission with all gears up pattern.

As soon as you turn the engine switch on and twist the throttle, you are greeted by its smooth, easy-going nature of this 125cc engine. The power delivery from this engine is not exactly sporty, and you can’t really expect it to rocket out of the traffic even if you are pushing it hard, instead, it feels happy being ridden in a lazy, sensible manner, like a commuter should be ridden. The absence of low-end torque is quite prominent.

But at the same time, the bike feels significantly vibration free when ridden on sensible speeds, and it’s only when it is pushed hard around 80 kmph that minor buzz starts crawling up under the seat and thighs portion, but that again goes away when the revs climb up further.

Since it is a carburetted unit, it bothers a bit when it comes to cold morning starts, but that is taken cared by the choke added on the left side of the handlebar. Pull the choke out, turn on the engine, heat it up for a minute or two, and the bike is ready to roll.

Talking about its one of the strongest points, it left us highly impressed with its overall fuel economy figures when ridden in both city and highway conditions. In the picture below you can clearly see the trip meter showing 146.8 kms, and that’s exactly how much I rode the bike after a tank full, but yet not a single fuel bar down. Going by the same, I did some math and found out the mileage to be somewhere around 60kmpl to 65kmpl, and that is commendable by any commuter standard.

Ride and comfort:

Another area where the new Hero Glamour outshines is the way it rides, and how comfortable it feels even on worst road patches you can imagine. Talking about ride and handling first, it obviously is a light weight motorcycle and hence feels easy to trundle around in and out of tight spaces. The riding position is as comfortable as you can imagine on a bike of its size.

At the front it comes equipped with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers and at the rear it boasts of 5-step adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers, the setup surely is one of the best in terms of hassle free riding on daily city roads. The bike literally doesn’t allow most undulations to be transferred on to the body, until and unless you are diving down an open manhole, in that case, the bike won’t help, pun intended. All I'm trying to point out is that the bike is extremely comfortable and it's one of the best suspension set up I've seen on commuter bikes in a while.

Most of the suspensions seen on commuter bikes are setup to be on the softer side to provide maximum comfort and hence such bikes feels squishy and feels diving when braking hard, but not the Glamour. It doesn’t dive in or feel extra soft at the front, it is just exactly how a good commuter should ride, so good that you have to ride it to believe it.

The bike comes equipped with a 240mm front disc brake and a 130mm drum rear drum brake, the braking power is decent from both the ends, but being a disc upfront you expect it to stop instantly, but it takes a second or more to do the same. And hence front braking can be improved a bit and the disc can use bit more bite when braking hard.

Verdict:

The new Glamour clearly impresses with its easy riding dynamics, refined engine, and clean looks. It surely comes out to be a well-rounded package for people looking out for a good looking practical everyday bike. It doesn’t only look good on the outside but is also among the most fuel efficient and comfortable bikes present in its segment, which certainly makes it an intelligent buy. It is priced at around Rs 60,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), and that we reckon is a very good price indeed.